Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk contract extensions: Liverpool ARE NOT making a mistake. Here's why

Liverpool announced on Friday that its Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah has signed a new contract. The club did not specify the length of the contract, but it has been reported as two years. As per transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, Salah chose to stay at Liverpool despite offers from clubs in the Saudi Pro League. Romano added that Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk will soon sign a new deal valid till June 2027. 

 

The Salah announcement and the seemingly done van Dijk extension begs the question of whether this season’s Premier League champions-elect are making mistakes by retaining these two legends. Salah turns 33 in June and van Dijk will be 34 in July. 

 

Salah has scored 32 goals so far this season from 45 games. He is the  Premier League's top scorer with 27 strikes to date. He has also managed 22 assists to his credit (54 goal contributions). Meanwhile, VVD has arguably been the best centre-back in the division this season. But, will an over-dependence on these two legends hamper the club’s performances in the long term? Should there have been a bold parting of the ways to initiate a rebuild sooner rather than later?

 

Well, the case for Salah’s extension is pretty straightforward. His output is still elite and though he has gone missing at times, especially recently, his threat is always a factor that the opposing team has to plan for and allocate resources towards. Despite being perennially underrated—he has never even finished on the Ballon d’Or podium—he has been one of the most consistent performers in Europe for the last eight years. His leadership and experience are also key for the club. 

 

And most significantly, replacing him would be expensive. Finding a player who can emulate Salah’s output will take some effort—Lamine Yamal is the obvious option, but he is unlikely to leave Barcelona—and buying such a player would require a record-breaking transfer fee. So, the best option was to keep Salah, bring in a younger player who would be cheaper than the world’s best and play him as the Egyptian’s understudy. PSV’s Johan Bakayoko, 21, could be a good fit and is reportedly in the market for around €50 million. 

 

The risk with keeping Salah, apart from the possibility of more injuries because of age, is what the club have been forced to pay him. His choice to reject Saudi clubs would have been motivated by the desire to continue competing at the highest level and possibly break Liverpool records—he is the club’s third all-time top scorer with 243 goals in 394 games. 

 

However, the interest from Saudi and the high wage on offer would have meant that Liverpool was also forced to offer more money, although this is almost certain to be less than any offer from Saudi. Liverpool manager Arne Slot confirmed the same with: “...the club put a lot of effort into getting Mo to stay... and effort mostly means money!” 

 

Some reports claim that Salah's new wage is as high as £400,000 per week. The prospect of overpaying a declining legend is a concern, but Salah’s commercial impact—especially in the Middle East and Africa—acts as a nice buffer. If keeping Salah turns out to be mistake, the club can probably recoup its losses using his brand and marketability. 

 

The upcoming extension of van Dijk’s contract is therefore a more nuanced decision. It makes sense because Liverpool cannot afford a leadership vacuum at this point. Especially as a possible future captain, Trent Alexander-Arnold, is seemingly getting ready to run down his contract and join Real Madrid for free in the summer. Moreover, world-class centre-backs with a mix of van Dijk’s skills—passing range, defensive awareness and ability, composure and aerial dominance—are rare. So, it is more difficult to replace a defender like the Dutchman than it is to find an attacker who has a similar skill set as Salah. It is just Salah’s consistency that makes him almost irreplaceable in today’s market.

 

While Salah has been part of almost everything going forward for The Reds in his time at the club, van Dijk has been the foundation of the club’s contemporary success. But, just like in Salah’s case, it is of vital importance to bring in a potential van Dijk successor—the Portuguese duo of Goncalo Inacio, 23, and Antonio Silva, 21, would both be good fits—while he is still at the club, so that the apprentice can learn from the master. 

 

Therefore, while it is definitely the right thing to retain the class, experience and leadership of both Salah and van Dijk in the short term, it is also essential to sign their future replacements at the earliest. 

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